A paedophile hunter believes Facebook vigilante groups which do live stings "are not going to be taken seriously" by the police.

Phantom Justice, who caught out a Southeastern employee from Sevenoaks who took vodka and baby oil with him to meet a 14-year-old girl, has made the comments in light of a crackdown by the authorities on such organisations.

The hunter, who is known as Danny, works alone and always passes his evidence to the police instead of carrying out the stings himself.

"Police are clamping down on it now, and I have to say I don't agree with what these groups do – there's no need," he said.

Chief Superintendent Thomas Richards of Kent Police issued a warning

"I have seen a group recently where the police had been called, and the bloke got up and ran off while they were waiting for the police.

'It's a police job'

"I always phone the police the day before I'm due a meet, and give them all the evidence. Then they have the time to prepare themselves.

"I let them do the knocking on the doors. It means they get in, and get the devices. That way you don't get apprehended yourself.

"It's very much a police job – I think what we should be doing is just gathering the evidence."

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Danny referenced the Bluewater incident where violence broke out following a sting by self-proclaimed vigilante group The Hunted One.

Kent Police later issued a stern statement, warning investigation work could be "significantly hindered" by people taking the law into their own hands.

He also mentioned how another recent sting led to an accused paedophile locking himself in his flat before the police arrived – possibly leading to the loss of evidence.

'Paedophile hunters' usually pose as child decoys online to catch out potential offenders

"If you do it yourself you risk people running off, losing evidence, and you could even be attacked," Danny added.

"I personally do not film it, because I think if someone had tricked me into something, I possibly would inflict violence on them.

"If I was in a car, I think I might try and reverse off. Someone could get hit and there's a lot that could go wrong.

'Attention for the wrong reasons'

"So get all the evidence and involve the police – that's what they're there for, and what they're trained for. They can do the dangerous bit.

"Some people do it for the followers and the likes by doing it live. But the police are not going to take that seriously.

"Behaving that way may get you attention but not for the right reasons, and it won't get you anywhere in the long run.

Danny, of Phantom Justice, helped catch Michael Quick from Sevenoaks

"Sometimes you can cause more of a problem rather than dealing with it. You have to be careful."

Danny says he used to work for the police and in prison, and can "see both sides of an argument" from both police and the Facebook groups.

'Make it up as they go along'

"I get it because it attracts a lot of people to the page and raises awareness, but really, why would you want to sit shouting and screaming at someone for half an hour? This is going about it in completely the wrong way," he said.

"They moan about why the police are taking so long – they wouldn't if they were let know in advance."

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Danny, who has a full-time and part-time job alongside his hunting project, said it is not the fault of the police if someone does not get charged, even with a certain amount of evidence – he believes it is down to the Crown Prosecution Service.

"These people do not understand how the system works. They seem to just make it up as they go along," he added.

"And if you've got it wrong all you are doing is showing a trained person what information you've got.

"You won't get done for wasting police time, or anything like that."

Police arriving at a sting in Chatham (Image: The Hunted One / Facebook)

Danny, of Wolverhampton, said he used to do a similar thing to this years ago – by posing as female characters and writing to criminals including Tracey Connelly, the mother of Baby P, and Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper.

He then moved online as he found writing letters too time consuming, and returned to the internet in February this year after having an eight-year break.

"I just started it to raise awareness for my friends and family. I have a 13-year-old cousin, for example, and she looks much older as she is really into her make up," he explained.